The White Wolf's Howl
by Jedi Knight Ryan
Summary: (One Shot, Spoilers for 8x04) His destiny lay before him, the life he once carried no longer seemed to matter, but as Jon Snow begins for his final preparations for what could be called "The Last War", one goodbye was going to be harder for him then he thought. To leave the wolf behind and embrace the dragon.


Okay, so this is my first attempt at writing Game of Thrones ever. I was so glad I wasn't the only one who didn't like that Jon and Ghost didn't get to say goodbye. I did the best I could so please be kind. There are some quotes directly from the show's earlier seasons in here but I do not own the rights to a Song of Fire and Ice or Game of Thrones, those belong to HBO and George RR Martin respectfully.

**The White Wolf's Howl**

_His destiny lay before him, the life he once carried no longer seemed to matter, but as Jon Snow begins for his final preparations for what could be called "The Last War", one goodbye was going to be harder for him then he thought. To leave the wolf behind and embrace the dragon._

A cold sigh escaped Jon's lips as he walked away from Samwell and Gilly, having just found out his best friend was going to be expecting his first child with the woman he had come to love in the years following their time together on the Wall. Both men had broken their vows they pledged to when they took The Black seven years ago, but too much time had past and they lost too many good people for those vows to seem anything more than a child's fantasy.

It was all coming together, Daenerys was flying south to Dragonstone with the remainder of her army while Jon and Ser Davos would ride to King's Landing with the remaining Northern forces and prepare the blockade that he hoped would spell the end of the conquest the second love of his life had said would be swift and begin her reign as the next Queen.

Dany…the thought of her plagued his mind all too often as of late, the shock and anguish on her face when she found out the truth about who he really was. That he was the only remaining child of her brother Rhaegar and his mother Lyanna, who he had believed all his life to be the Aunt he never knew because Rhaegar took her away from the Starks before they were born, but it was all a convoluted lie in order to protect Jon from Robert Baratheon's wrath following the end of the Rebellion.

As he approached his horse where Ser Davos waited, Jon stopped and looked at the figure approaching him. A wolf, with fur as white as snow and eyes as red as a gemstone, his direwolf Ghost, the most loyal and trusted companion he has had since everything that had happened to him and his family these last few years had been watching him for an amount of time Jon was unaware of.

Ghost was always the most silent of the direwolf pups Jon and his family had rescued in the woods following the death of their mother, hence where his name came from, and from everything with the rise of the White Walkers, to Craster, the mutiny from his brothers at Castle Black to the battle of the bastards, Wolf had always been at Jon's side, and now…now it was time to say goodbye.

Jon didn't want to, he would have taken Ghost with him to King's Landing had the thought crossed his mind that the wolf could handle being that far away from the colder temperatures that his breed needed, that's why he wanted Tormund to take him beyond the wall, let Ghost live the rest of his life with his people, not with him, being stuck behind castle walls.

He didn't say anything to his direwolf, only nodded, it was all he could think of, Ghost would understand, or at least he hoped. The look Ghost gave him, his head lowered, his red eyes lowering in sadness and pain, a slight whimper escaped from his throat.

"Are you ready?" Ser Davos asked Jon as he approached, handing the reigns to the man he had sworn loyalty to

Jon only nodded as he mounted, ensuring Longclaw was situated on his saddle "Let's go."

They snapped the reigns and began their long journey out of Winterfell, meeting with the other Northern soldiers outside of the castle's perimeter.

Ghost looked up again as Tormund walked in the other direction along with Sam and Gilly, he wouldn't let his master do this, it wasn't like Jon at all to be so distant, in his mind, the youngest direwolf did something wrong, something to offend the human who had taken care of him all his life, maybe it was the limp in his front leg he developed, or the bloody scratches now lining his white fur or maybe it was the missing ear he had lost during the battle with the undead, charging with the horses in the front lines.

His limp was steady as he made his way for the gate, a little stagger was in his step, it was only his front leg, even if he could make it to the gate, it would be enough, but whether he had the strength to do so was a longshot.

As Jon began to clear the gate, his limp evolved into a half jog, he was pushing himself too hard, but for Ghost, if this was to be goodbye, he wanted it to be on his terms, not Jon's or the red haired loud mouth human or Samwell, who he had considered a second father.

He didn't have far to go, his red eyes began to widen with relief as he approached the gate, panting from the slight amount of pain as he sat down, his breath catching up in his throat. Ghost let out a growl and a series of barks, the loud hard ones that he had once used to alert Jon of the undead approaching Lord Commander Mormont their first few months at Castle Black.

It didn't work, Jon didn't even turn to face him. Ghost felt his heart break, what could he have done that would make his master want to leave him, as he whimpered harder, he lifted his head and let out a howl, a long and painful one.

Davos looked back at the howl, he couldn't believe the direwolf's reaction, he then turned to Jon "Your leaving your wolf behind?"

Jon could only nod "I'm having Tormund take him beyond the wall. To be in the wild and let Ghost run free. He shouldn't be held in castle walls and I can't take him South."

"Well, it doesn't look like he's ready to say goodbye to you." Davos motioned backwards with his thumb

Jon turned his hips and looked back at Ghost, who at this point who had stopped howling and simply looked at Jon with a curious look, the kind that he would give when he was begging for table scraps or trying to understand what was wrong with Jon.

"Hold on a minute." Jon nodded to Davos as he handed Davos his regins then dismounted, making his way back toward Ghost

The direwolf's ear picked up as he stood up, feeling his leg roar in pain as he tried to run to Jon, just like how he used to, but Ghost knew he was still injured, but he'd try his best. He took one step, then another, soon he was doing three, maybe four steps, then he felt the strength return to his legs as he began to run. He ran, for the first time in hours, he felt himself run as he closed the distance between himself and Jon.

They eventually caught each other as Ghost finally sat down, his eyes looking right at Jon as he knelt in the snow, a quick removal of his glove and Jon's hand went through his fur.

"You got to stay here boy. Tormund will be taking you back to the wall, where you'll be free." Jon said softly to Ghost as he continued to look at Jon "If something should happen to me…I don't want Cersei to harm you."

Ghost didn't care, as Jon let go, he nudged Jon's hand with his nose, he was determined to do everything he physically could to make Jon reconsider "I'm not a Stark Ghost, I'm a…a Targaryen, they have dragons, not direwolves."

Ghost couldn't understand a word he said, he stood and licked the bare part of Jon's cheek, and whimpered again.

"He can stay here."

Jon looked over at Bran, who had just been rolled out in his wheelchair by his assistant "I can use him for protection. He doesn't want to go to a world he doesn't know."

Ghost looked at Bran, then back to Jon and sat back down again as Jon now looked to Bran, then back to Ghost and nodded "Alright, if you want to stay, you can stay, but I still have to go South. I promise you; we'll see each other again."

Ghost nodded as Jon stood and slipped his glove back on "We'll see each other again." He repeated as he made his way back to Ser Davos

Jon mounted his horse and readied himself as the pair left, Ghost once again howled, this time, not out of sadness but out of happiness.

"_Ah the runt of the litter, that one is yours Snow." _The voice of Theon Grayjoy spoke to Jon as he remembered the day he met Ghost for the first time as a pup while returning from executing the deserter from Castle Black

"_I missed you boy." _Jon's own voice played back from Caster's Keep after they killed the betrayers beyond the wall, he and Ghost being reunited after he had disappeared "I'll return Ghost, I promise."


End file.
